Oba Akiolu Cautioned Traditional rulers Against Instigating Disaffection

The Alake spoke through his Adviser on Media Affairs, Chief Lai Labode, accompanied by Egba Council of Chiefs at a conference at the paramount ruler’s palace in Abeokuta, yesterday. He said: “The Alake’s reply was predicated on the self-indulgence of our respected monarch to churn out outright historical falsehoods in the presence of knowledgeable Nigerians.”

The Alake, whose speech, entitled Putting the record straight: Egba’s response to Awujale’s allegations, said he believed that Awujale’s audience would have taken his attempt to rewrite contemporary history as his personal views: “we feel compelled to state the facts for record purposes,” he said. Oba of Lagos Meanwhile, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu of Lagos has cautioned Yoruba traditional rulers against making statements capable of causing disaffection among the various traditional institutions in the country, stating that emphasis should be on fostering peaceful coexistence.

Akiolu, who said this yesterday in Lagos when the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli, visited him at his palace, said it was not in the place of traditional rulers to make statements that could lead to disharmony. Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, and Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo He said: “By the grace of God, I pray for peace and progress. Olu of Warri, this is your home. It shall be well with you. God will grant you a peaceful and prosperous reign. You were not poor before you became the Olu, I have been blessed more than I was before I became the Oba, and you will also be blessed beyond measures. “We, Yoruba Obas, are not supposed to be making inflammatory statements.

All the Yoruba Obas should refrain from making statements capable of causing disunity. God gave us one thing in this Lagos; all those who make progress in this country started from Lagos. There is nowhere in Lagos we discriminate against anybody.” Awujale had, last week, attacked the Alake over the ranking of Yoruba Obas, describing the Alake as a junior and inexperienced Oba in Yorubaland. Awujale was reacting to the comment on the ranking of Yoruba Obas where he was categorised as the last Oba out of five prominent Obas in Yorubaland, saying Alake had quoted wrongly from the 1903 government gazette.

The Alake, who received the new Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi Adeyeye at his palace on February 7, had said: “Ooni is one of the five principal Obas in Yorubaland. The others are in order of the way they are classified on a supremacy basis. “After the Ooni is the Alaafin of Oyo; after the Alaafin is the Oba of Benin; after the Oba of Benin, is the Alake of Egbaland and the fifth, and by no means the least, is the Awujale of Ijebuland.” This statement did not go down well with the Awujale as he replied the Alake, blasting him for categorising him as the fifth prominent Yoruba Oba.

Lugard’s salary scale However, in his reply to all the allegations raised by Awujale against him, the Alake, in the speech which was signed by the Balogun of Egbaland, Chief Sikirulahi Atobatele, and read by his media aide, said the intention of the Egbas was not to whip up any controversy or demean anybody. Rather, it is always to educate the public by stating the fact of history and for record purposes. In his defence, the Alake buttressed his ranking above the Awujale, going to the archives to quote Lord Lugard’s Grading and Salaries of Obas in the Southern Province. It revealed that the two First Class monarchs were on different salary scales, which showed that the Alake was receiving £2,250, while the Awujale was receiving £1,700.